Christmas in
Iceland
Celebrated: December 12 through January 6 (the 13 days of the Yule Lads)
Signature traditions
- 1.The 13 Yule Lads (Jólasveinar) — mischievous trolls who visit one by one in the 13 nights leading up to Christmas
- 2.Children leaving a shoe in the window each night — good kids get small gifts, bad kids get a rotten potato
- 3.The Yule Cat (Jólakötturinn) — a giant cat that eats anyone who didn't receive new clothes for Christmas
- 4.Jólabókaflóð — the 'Christmas book flood,' where Icelanders give books on Christmas Eve and spend the night reading
- 5.Hot chocolate and lit candles around midnight on Christmas Eve
What's on the table
Hangikjöt and laufabrauð
Hangikjöt is smoked lamb served with potatoes in white sauce. Laufabrauð (leaf bread) is paper-thin, deep-fried bread cut into intricate patterns — families gather to cut the designs together.
The iconic decoration
Candles and books
Iceland's dark winter shapes the aesthetic: every window has candles, and books are stacked everywhere as gifts and decorations.
How gifts are given
The 13 Yule Lads each leave a small gift in children's shoes on the 13 nights before Christmas. Larger family gifts are exchanged on Christmas Eve.
Did you know?
The Yule Lads have wonderfully specific personalities and names — Pot-Scraper, Door-Slammer, Sausage-Swiper, Window-Peeper, and Spoon-Licker among them — each visiting a different night and named after the mischief they cause.